Guitar Method
Encyclopedia
Guitar Method is the only album by indie supergroup Kid Kilowatt
, initially released by Second Nature Recordings
on vinyl in 2003, and later on CD by Hydra Head Records
in 2004. It consists of material recorded over a period of three years, including after the band's breakup. Still, it did not see release as a whole for over four years after the last track was recorded.
Kid Kilowatt was formed by members of Cave In
and Converge
as a side project; sessions together were sporadic and rare, and the process of writing, recording and release took seven years in all. Reviewers praised the band's musicianship and the depth and range of the sound; one "much mellower" than that of the members' main projects.
's Steve Brodsky in August 1996, "inspired by [his] love for Giants Chair and [his] need for an alter-ego to Cave In". Other influences upon Kid Kilowatt's sound, as stated by Brodksy, included Sunny Day Real Estate
and "early" Promise Ring
. Brodsky recruited Adam McGrath, also of Cave In, on bass guitar, along with local drummer Matt Redmond and Piebald
guitarist and vocalist Aaron Stuart. Brodsky took the role of guitarist and lead vocalist, and with this line-up they, in the words of Brodsky, "began to formulate some good ol' sappy-but-not-too-sappy rock n' roll tunes".
The first material destined for Guitar Method was written within the initial few months, including "Teg Nugent" and "the original, 9 minute long opus version" of "Tug of War". In Autumn 1996, they recorded a four-song demo with Kurt Ballou
at his 8-track home studio, GodCity. Brodsky hand-crafted the demo inserts in his high school graphic arts room, with around 400 copies pressed. According to Brodsky, they were "gone in no time". In Spring 1997, Aaron Stuart left the band in order to concentrate on his primary project, Piebald. Ballou, of Converge
, who had recorded and produced their prior four track demo, joined the band in his stead, and they renamed the band "Kid Kilowatt", inspired by a Guided by Voices
song entitled "Cool Off Kid Kilowatt" from their 1993 album Vampire on Titus
.
Now with Ballou as a full-time member, the band re-developed songs written with Stuart, including "The Bicycle Song", "7th Inning Song Formation", "The Scope", "Peeping Tomboy" and "Red Carpet". They resumed writing fresh material with "Radio Pow for Now". In their first show as Kid Kilowatt, they performed with Brodsky's "heroes", Giants Chair, in his home town of Methuen, Massachusetts
. For the following six to seven months, however, all the band members were prepossessed with other musical projects, resulting in infrequent rehearsal and intermittent live performance. They did occasionally play live during this period, however, performing with bands such as Piebald, Jejune
, and Regulator Watts
.
They recorded as Kid Kilowatt only once before the official demise of the band, in July 1997. During this session, they recorded "Bicycle Song" and "The Scope" on Ballou's 8-track machine; this version of "Bicycle Song" appeared on Hydra Head Records CD sampler Volume 1.
After Brodsky joined Converge, whilst still a member of Cave In, in 1997, the amount of time being devoted to Kid Kilowatt began to wane. Matt Redmond had moved to New Hampshire
also, causing "enthusiasm for the band to fizzle". They played what would be their last show in January 1998 at the Met Café in Providence, Rhode Island
. Soon after that show, Brodsky left Converge in order to devote all his time to Cave In, now as not only the guitarist, but as the vocalist. McGrath and Ballou continued their duties with Cave In and Converge, respectively, and Redmond joined a new band called Eulcid. As Brodsky eulogises: "There was simply no time left in our schedules for Kid Kilowatt and the band collapsed".
In November 1998, the band decided to try to record everything they had written together. Recording continued at GodCity until October 1999, occurring "completely sporadically; a week night here and there, maybe a full day during one weekend of a month or two". Brodsky describes this as "quite evident from the sound of the record". During these sessions, some new material was composed, including "Memorial Drive", "Glass of Shattered Youth", "Cadence for a Rainy Day" and "Cadence for the Desert Sun". The last Kid Kilowatt song ever recorded was the album version of "Tug of War". The record was mastered at M-works in Cambridge, Massachusetts
.
Predating Guitar Method by three years, Second Nature Recordings
released a 7-inch Kid Kilowatt single entitled Hit Single in 2001. It includes tracks "Peeping Tomboy" and "Glass of Shattered Youth", described as "a playful companion to their Guitar Method debut full-length". The vinyl saw two pressings. Second Nature also released the original version of Guitar Method on 12" on October 14, 2003, in slightly abridged form. The vinyl edit excluded the tracks "Glass of Shattered Youth", "Blue/Green Heart" and "Tug of War". These three tracks were credited as "bonus tracks" on the Hydra Head Records
CD, released on March 9, 2004.
, but concedes that "Kilowatt isn’t even that metallic or scream-oriented". Attempting to categorise that band, a ScenePointBlank review writes that "[o]ne could narrowly define Kid Kilowatt as either indie-rock or post-hardcore, both are accurate descriptions". Moore says that "[o]verall, the album sounds rather pop-y", and that their use of "pop hooks combined with post-pop chord progressions" gives the album a "very melodic feel". Chris Morgan, in a glowing review, writes that Guitar Method is "a sleeper classic of the modern underground".
Several songs are selected as stand-outs throughout the album. "Tug of War" is labelled as "the strongest song on the album", with John D. Luerssen writing that "the cohesiveness of the material suggests the lads in Kid Kilowatt exited this side project as friends. After all, only buddies capable of putting their differences aside could craft the soaring, majestic "Tug of War," where Brodsky's wide-reaching pipes mesh brilliantly with KK's ace musicianship". He continues to say that "the disc shifts from roaring, expansive rockers like "Bicycle Song" to crunching anthems like "Ted Nugent" and on to lilting, near-ballads like "Memorial Drive" with inexplicable ease". Moore writes that "The Scope" "encapsulates what the rest of the album will sound like. It starts out sounding rather crunchy and smooths out as the album progresses, providing a good contrasting effect that runs throughout the album". Moore, however, writes that "Memorial Drive" is "only mediocre. It's the only song on the album over five minutes long. Playing slow just isn't this band's forte, although they have the ability to write poignant lyrics". Similarly, a ScenePointBlank review states that "Cadence for a Rainy Day" and "Memorial Drive" "often diverge and lead the listener off-course".
Other personnel
Kid Kilowatt
Kid Kilowatt was a rock supergroup formed in 1996 and dissolved in 1997, including members of Cave In, Converge and Piebald. They wrote only one album, Guitar Method, first released by Second Nature Recordings in 2003....
, initially released by Second Nature Recordings
Second Nature Recordings
Second Nature Recordings is an independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It specialises in indie rock and punk and co-releases vinyl pressings for other labels...
on vinyl in 2003, and later on CD by Hydra Head Records
Hydra Head Records
Hydra Head Records is an independent record label which specializes in heavy metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner in 1993...
in 2004. It consists of material recorded over a period of three years, including after the band's breakup. Still, it did not see release as a whole for over four years after the last track was recorded.
Kid Kilowatt was formed by members of Cave In
Cave In
Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995, in Methuen, Massachusetts. After several members changes in the late 90's, their lineup solidified with the 1998 release of Until Your Heart Stops through Hydra Head Records. Their early albums were prominent releases in the independent...
and Converge
Converge (band)
Converge is an American band from Salem, Massachusetts. Playing a blend of hardcore punk and metal since 1990, Converge has helped to define many of the elements of the metalcore genre.-Description:...
as a side project; sessions together were sporadic and rare, and the process of writing, recording and release took seven years in all. Reviewers praised the band's musicianship and the depth and range of the sound; one "much mellower" than that of the members' main projects.
Context and recording
Kid Kilowatt was initially created as 'Ester of Wood Rosin' by Cave InCave In
Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995, in Methuen, Massachusetts. After several members changes in the late 90's, their lineup solidified with the 1998 release of Until Your Heart Stops through Hydra Head Records. Their early albums were prominent releases in the independent...
's Steve Brodsky in August 1996, "inspired by [his] love for Giants Chair and [his] need for an alter-ego to Cave In". Other influences upon Kid Kilowatt's sound, as stated by Brodksy, included Sunny Day Real Estate
Sunny Day Real Estate
Sunny Day Real Estate is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. In the 1990s, the group expanded upon the grunge style that was popular in the local scene to make a more melodic sound. While not the first band to be classified as emo, they were instrumental in establishing the genre. In...
and "early" Promise Ring
The Promise Ring
The Promise Ring is an American emo band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In their early years, their music was usually classified as emo, but their later albums could be described more accurately as indie pop. They split up in 2002 and temporarily reunited in 2005...
. Brodsky recruited Adam McGrath, also of Cave In, on bass guitar, along with local drummer Matt Redmond and Piebald
Piebald (band)
Piebald is an American alternative rock band. Piebald started as a hardcore band in Andover, Massachusetts, out of the same scene that produced legends Converge. They later moved to the Boston suburb of Somerville and became a staple of the Greater Boston indie rock scene. Two members still live in...
guitarist and vocalist Aaron Stuart. Brodsky took the role of guitarist and lead vocalist, and with this line-up they, in the words of Brodsky, "began to formulate some good ol' sappy-but-not-too-sappy rock n' roll tunes".
The first material destined for Guitar Method was written within the initial few months, including "Teg Nugent" and "the original, 9 minute long opus version" of "Tug of War". In Autumn 1996, they recorded a four-song demo with Kurt Ballou
Kurt Ballou
Kurt Ballou is the guitarist from Massachusetts-based band Converge. Aside from his role in Converge, he is a prolific producer, engineering and producing out of his own Godcity studio.- GodCity studio :...
at his 8-track home studio, GodCity. Brodsky hand-crafted the demo inserts in his high school graphic arts room, with around 400 copies pressed. According to Brodsky, they were "gone in no time". In Spring 1997, Aaron Stuart left the band in order to concentrate on his primary project, Piebald. Ballou, of Converge
Converge (band)
Converge is an American band from Salem, Massachusetts. Playing a blend of hardcore punk and metal since 1990, Converge has helped to define many of the elements of the metalcore genre.-Description:...
, who had recorded and produced their prior four track demo, joined the band in his stead, and they renamed the band "Kid Kilowatt", inspired by a Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band originating from Dayton, Ohio. Beginning with the band's formation in 1983, it made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard...
song entitled "Cool Off Kid Kilowatt" from their 1993 album Vampire on Titus
Vampire on Titus
Vampire on Titus is the sixth album by indie rock group Guided by Voices, from Dayton, Ohio, United States.The image on the cover is from The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary by Henry Lee, 1887...
.
Now with Ballou as a full-time member, the band re-developed songs written with Stuart, including "The Bicycle Song", "7th Inning Song Formation", "The Scope", "Peeping Tomboy" and "Red Carpet". They resumed writing fresh material with "Radio Pow for Now". In their first show as Kid Kilowatt, they performed with Brodsky's "heroes", Giants Chair, in his home town of Methuen, Massachusetts
Methuen, Massachusetts
Methuen is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 43,789 at the 2000 census.-History:Methuen was first settled in 1642 and was officially incorporated in 1726; it is named for the British diplomat Sir Paul Methuen. Methuen was originally part of Haverhill,...
. For the following six to seven months, however, all the band members were prepossessed with other musical projects, resulting in infrequent rehearsal and intermittent live performance. They did occasionally play live during this period, however, performing with bands such as Piebald, Jejune
Jejune
Jejune is the name of a band which formed in the mid-90s at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. The band has been commonly identified with the emo genre, particularly the late-90s "indie emo" scene. The three founding members, Arabella Harrison , Joe Guevara and Chris Vanacore ,...
, and Regulator Watts
Regulator Watts
Regulator Watts was a rock band from Washington, D.C.. It lasted from 1996 to 1998.The band's music resembles that of illustrious predecessor Hoover, with more of an emphasis on taut, mechanical basslines and feedback-laden, spare guitar lines, as opposed to Hoover's fluid, jazzy basslines and...
.
They recorded as Kid Kilowatt only once before the official demise of the band, in July 1997. During this session, they recorded "Bicycle Song" and "The Scope" on Ballou's 8-track machine; this version of "Bicycle Song" appeared on Hydra Head Records CD sampler Volume 1.
After Brodsky joined Converge, whilst still a member of Cave In, in 1997, the amount of time being devoted to Kid Kilowatt began to wane. Matt Redmond had moved to New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
also, causing "enthusiasm for the band to fizzle". They played what would be their last show in January 1998 at the Met Café in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. Soon after that show, Brodsky left Converge in order to devote all his time to Cave In, now as not only the guitarist, but as the vocalist. McGrath and Ballou continued their duties with Cave In and Converge, respectively, and Redmond joined a new band called Eulcid. As Brodsky eulogises: "There was simply no time left in our schedules for Kid Kilowatt and the band collapsed".
In November 1998, the band decided to try to record everything they had written together. Recording continued at GodCity until October 1999, occurring "completely sporadically; a week night here and there, maybe a full day during one weekend of a month or two". Brodsky describes this as "quite evident from the sound of the record". During these sessions, some new material was composed, including "Memorial Drive", "Glass of Shattered Youth", "Cadence for a Rainy Day" and "Cadence for the Desert Sun". The last Kid Kilowatt song ever recorded was the album version of "Tug of War". The record was mastered at M-works in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
.
Release
Second Nature Recordings
Second Nature Recordings is an independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It specialises in indie rock and punk and co-releases vinyl pressings for other labels...
released a 7-inch Kid Kilowatt single entitled Hit Single in 2001. It includes tracks "Peeping Tomboy" and "Glass of Shattered Youth", described as "a playful companion to their Guitar Method debut full-length". The vinyl saw two pressings. Second Nature also released the original version of Guitar Method on 12" on October 14, 2003, in slightly abridged form. The vinyl edit excluded the tracks "Glass of Shattered Youth", "Blue/Green Heart" and "Tug of War". These three tracks were credited as "bonus tracks" on the Hydra Head Records
Hydra Head Records
Hydra Head Records is an independent record label which specializes in heavy metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner in 1993...
CD, released on March 9, 2004.
Reception
Critical reception to the album was largely positive; reviews specifically praised the band's musicianship and the range of material on the album. Adam Moore, writing for the Tufts Observer, posits that "[a]ll of the members bring their great musical abilities to Kid Kilowatt and make them more palatable to the listener who isn't into blast beats and Jake Bannon's [of Converge] distinctive voice". The album's sound is described as "more recent Cave In, but without the spacey effects and meandering songwriting". Moore likens the sound to that of ThursdayThursday (band)
Thursday were an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Formed in 1997, the group has released six full-length albums, their most recent being No Devolución, which was released in April 2011 on Epitaph Records...
, but concedes that "Kilowatt isn’t even that metallic or scream-oriented". Attempting to categorise that band, a ScenePointBlank review writes that "[o]ne could narrowly define Kid Kilowatt as either indie-rock or post-hardcore, both are accurate descriptions". Moore says that "[o]verall, the album sounds rather pop-y", and that their use of "pop hooks combined with post-pop chord progressions" gives the album a "very melodic feel". Chris Morgan, in a glowing review, writes that Guitar Method is "a sleeper classic of the modern underground".
Several songs are selected as stand-outs throughout the album. "Tug of War" is labelled as "the strongest song on the album", with John D. Luerssen writing that "the cohesiveness of the material suggests the lads in Kid Kilowatt exited this side project as friends. After all, only buddies capable of putting their differences aside could craft the soaring, majestic "Tug of War," where Brodsky's wide-reaching pipes mesh brilliantly with KK's ace musicianship". He continues to say that "the disc shifts from roaring, expansive rockers like "Bicycle Song" to crunching anthems like "Ted Nugent" and on to lilting, near-ballads like "Memorial Drive" with inexplicable ease". Moore writes that "The Scope" "encapsulates what the rest of the album will sound like. It starts out sounding rather crunchy and smooths out as the album progresses, providing a good contrasting effect that runs throughout the album". Moore, however, writes that "Memorial Drive" is "only mediocre. It's the only song on the album over five minutes long. Playing slow just isn't this band's forte, although they have the ability to write poignant lyrics". Similarly, a ScenePointBlank review states that "Cadence for a Rainy Day" and "Memorial Drive" "often diverge and lead the listener off-course".
Track listing
Personnel
Band members- Kurt BallouKurt BallouKurt Ballou is the guitarist from Massachusetts-based band Converge. Aside from his role in Converge, he is a prolific producer, engineering and producing out of his own Godcity studio.- GodCity studio :...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Steve Brodsky – guitar, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Adam McGrath – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Matt Redmond – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Aaron Stuart – guitar
Other personnel
- Aaron TurnerAaron TurnerAaron Turner is a musician, singer, graphic artist, and founder of label Hydra Head Records. He is most widely known for his role as guitarist and vocalist for the post-metal band Isis, while also participating in several other bands and projects such as Old Man Gloom and Lotus Eaters.Though raised...
– album artwork and design - Nick Zampiello – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...